


Haruhi Potter

by mopsi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Suzumiya Haruhi Series, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu | The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi
Genre: Gen, Silly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-04
Updated: 2014-07-29
Packaged: 2018-01-21 10:35:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1547558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mopsi/pseuds/mopsi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyon's father works at the wizarding ministry in relations with muggles and halfbloods. They fish themselves the commission of hosting and introducing Haruhi Suzumiya Potter to the wizarding world. Kyon is unexcited.</p><p>Edit. I have pretty much dropped this fic for now! It refused to conclude.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Lily because of course it is

What if we cross worlds and timelines without knowing it? Maybe we have lived in countless variables of our universe, feeling we belong right in, being unique, irreplaceable, unreproducible. Maybe the Creator, walking as one among us, isn’t aware of the possibility to start everything from scratch at the spur of their will.

Be it as may, in a late afternoon, in this universe we take for granted to be the only one in existence…

The indicator in Kyon's family's clock that had the word DAD written over it turned to point from TRAVELING to HOME. Flames lit up in the fireplace, and Kyon's father danced out of it into the living room. His eyes gleamed with excitement.

  
"Oh hi, Kyon!” he said. “Hello darling!” he said to his wife, who came from the kitchen to give him a kiss on the cheek. “I have great news. I got the job!”

Kyon squinted, showing apparent distaste. “Dad, we didn't have to–”

Dad didn't seem to hear a thing; he went to ascend the stairs to his bedroom. “Prepare for a field trip to the muggle world! Everyone dig up a pair of pants!”

In this world, magic certainly was real. Kyon's father worked at the wizarding ministry in relations with muggles and halfbloods. He had been fishing himself the job of introducing a muggle-born to the wizarding world, and now he had his eyes on a certain Haruhi Suzumiya Potter. Kyon had been trying to talk him out of it, but his father seemed to have his ears full of Floo Powder. Nice. So much about settling in peacefully with his old school friends in Hogwarts.

Kyon had his invitation letter, of course. Everyone in their old and respectable, albeit not very wealthy family had gone to Hogwarts, as good as from the beginning. Kyon had known his admittance wouldn't provide surprises. He didn't specifically like surprises.

Well, there was hope that this new girl wouldn't provide too many either.

 

* * *

 

 

“Sweetheart, it could be an elaborate prank.”

Mr. Suzumiya Potter nodded to his wife.

“It could. I would rather wish magic existed, because we have been prepared to this punchline for our daughter's entire life.”

They talked in hushed tones, even if Haruhi was playing outside. Maybe they were as much in shock as avoiding being overheard. The subject of their discussion was a letter, official-looking but playfully ancient in layout. It lay open on the kitchen counter and read as follows:

_Dear Ms. Suzumiya Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Mrs. Suzumiya Potter had to admit that her husband had a point. They lived ordinary lives on an ordinary street, in a perfectly everydayish suburban neighborhood. Their professions were in the engineering field, so both of them had a firm belief in natural laws – in other words, in this world, magic didn't exist. But their daughter was just odd. She had cut her hair several times just to grow it back overnight. She had lost a balloon, they had seen it fly to freedom, and they had watched it descend back down and let her take a firm grip of its string again. She wasn't disobedient, but a very stubborn child, and it was as if her nature had manipulated the world around her.

  
“What kind of way is this to introduce people to a whole new education system? Just a letter, nothing more?”

“It is a very faulty system”, Mr. Potter said. “What if we were to think it is a prank and throw the letter away? The mailman definitely should have, because there's no stamp.”

 

* * *

 

 

Kyon liked this neighborhood. It was clean and symmetrical; houses and little yards were lined up not unlike the tiles in their facades. Every house had at least a little trimmed lawn, with a path leading to the house, often flowerbeds and perhaps a little tree.

“Ah! Right here!” Kyon's father exclaimed. He was holding a little compass. Its needle rose up from inside the glass and pointed towards the house next to them, dancing back and forth as if excited.

“Won't that compass draw attention?” Kyon asked.

“Muggles these days have very similar objects,” Dad told him, “They are called the geepeys.”

“Called what?” Kyon was going to ask, when the compass needle spurted into the fence in front of 4 Privet Drive. They looked when it jammed in the branches a few times, until it managed to flicker above it. It rose exactly in unison with also golden colored ribbon, tying back chestnut hair. The girl, Kyon's age, stared at the little object.

“Is this a trick?” she asked. “Is this a flying clock hand? Who are you people?”

She seemed intent, but not put back at all, by this uncommon occurrence.

Dad introduced himself. “I am Arthur Weasley from the Ministry of Magic, and I assume you are Miss Haruhi Potter,” he said, offering a hand the girl didn't accept, “this is my son, Charles, but please call him Kyon.” Kyon sighed inaudibly. “We are here to talk about your admittance letter.”

Haruhi ran inside. “Mom! Dad! Have we invited wizards over?"

 


	2. Real Enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuriko is a Japanese girl's name. When written 百合子 it means lily.

The Daily Prophet lay on the dinner table. Kyon, his dad and the Potter family were sitting around it, sipping on tea and talking about the situation. “Hogwarts is an acclaimed institution, so this invitation should be proof of your daughter's talent as a witch. Have you seen her show magical abilities before?”

James and Yuriko looked at each other.

“If we are talking about the same thing, I'm pretty sure she has shown them plenty,” James offered.

“She especially likes to style her hair by magic,” Yuriko told.

“Mostly grow it, I'd say; she chops it off with regular scissors. Such a mess!” James tutted, teasing. Haruhi shrugged sharply as if to shake the comment off. She could have listened intently or then not. The letter from the wizarding school was wrinkling in her tiny fingers.

“Interesting”, Arthur said, keeping to the point. “She may have certain shapeshifting abilities. Magic is usually strictly forbidden at home from those who have started magical education. But this form of magic is more difficult to track and is excluded from the regular rule. If you would like, she can be subjected to tests during her school year. They have an excellent nursery.”

“I would think Haruhi can decide herself if she wants such a thing in some point. This is a lot to take in at once, sir,” James said politely.

Kyon thought Haruhi was cute. But she definitely wasn't talkative. Her glance could crush a bug. As such, Kyon thought she could handle some riveted looks, because his little sister wasn't exactly a wallflower either.

Haruhi's home was very orderly and Kyon also liked that. The dinner table was laid with tea served from nice porcelain and with biscuits in a bowl. There was a racking from the clock on the wall, muffled blabbering in the television by boring muggles in muggle business suits, sometimes you could hear a car pass. Haruhi's living room was something Kyon could accept to visit from time to time.

When Haruhi went to his room to pack her things, and older people talked about money transfers to the wizarding world to sustain their child, Kyon excused himself and walked around the room, taking in the surroundings. He went to the staircase. There he was unseen by others in the dining space, and he listened to the house's sounds, steps and occasional rustling and closing and opening of doors and drawers somewhere upstairs.

He stopped to look at pictures on the walls, subjects oddly still. There was a kitten, playing in threads and strangled within them. “I'm in a real mess when you are not around,” said a text beside it. There were photographs of people, maybe family members, graduation and wedding photos. The closest relatives were placed in the living room, these pictures were old, black and white. Kyon stopped in front of a painting of a young girl. He took another glance at it. She didn't move, obviously, even blink.

Kyon thought about it and looked cautiously down the stairs towards the living room. The adults had grown accustomed to each other and polite and quiet tones had grown more audible. He drew his wand, which he definitely wasn't allowed to do, and looked at it. It was second hand and affordable, but an alright fit, linden and dragon heartstring. Both materials were known to align to users well. He didn't _love_ to hold it, he didn't live for it, but he liked it so they were cool – if you could speak like that about your wand.

Kyon's mother painted sometimes and used the necessary spell, so he would just have to imitate. Kyon wasn't tracked yet, it was almost certain. With the noises around the house, and others concentrated in something else, if he'd just say it very softly...

He felt a jerk in his elbow. Startling, he turned to look. He hadn't noticed Haruhi come to his side, but there she was, two stairs above him, holding his wand arm in a deathly grip. He saw in a haze that she was wearing her hair differently now: the same golden ribbon tied back a ponytail high just below the top of her head. Her hair flowed down one side of her neck and down her blouse. Kyon tried tentatively to pull his hand back, but the girl had it trapped. “What are you doing?” she mouthed.

“Magic,” Kyon breathed back, “can you move your hand a little?” 'Magic' seemed to be a keyword, because it only took Haruhi a moment of pondering before she eased her hand. Still, she didn't move it away, and there was the intense look again, pinning him down as effectively and harder to fight back. Kyon pushed her rudeness off his mind by closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Then he wawed his hand in a pointedly elegant gesture and whispered, “Pigmentum animata.”

The kitten blinked its eyes and looked at them, looking daunted. The expression was silly, and that and the success of his spell made Kyon chuckle under his breath. The kitten looked at them curiously, little head bobbing, eyes switching from one to the other. Then it seemed to go “mew!” before it took to playing with the colorful threads again. Kyon turned towards Haruhi to see her reaction, when she snatched his hand in the grip again, this time reaching for the wand. “N-” Kyon protested, and they started a quiet struggle for the mastery of the instrument.

They fell in a bundle of limbs, from which Kyon's wand protruded, confused of its controller. A rapid succession of unpronounced spells bounced around in the confined stairwell in purple and green and golden streaks of light, missing Kyon and Haruhi by inches, when the just before distant noises of those sitting in the living room came closer unnoticed. The three adults emerged to the foot of the stairs just in time to see something that appeared like a noisy firecracker hit the giant tiffany lamp in the ceiling, crashing it down between them and the children.

The wand dropped onto the floor and rolled right past the blue and green pile of cullet, previously known as family heirloom. Kyon's father was the first to close his mouth. “Accio wand!” he snapped. The instrument swooshed into his hand. He slid it in his chest pocket, where it disappeared completely.

 


	3. Speaking of Unexpected Guests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Senior inspector Shacklebolt, at your service.”
> 
> “As I am at yours”, Itsuki said, in a manner suggesting he was perhaps expecting more subordination than was about to express himself.

The Magic Coverup swat team was there within minutes. Arthur assured everyone that no brain-rinsing was taking place, in a wizard family like theirs, managing to make no one feel the happier. The Potters had managed to take the situation surprisingly calmly; the magical world was suddenly proving to be less than fun and games for everyone, but still, they just sat in the living room like they had before. Their ways to dealing with things were calmer than what Kyon was used to, but they were still glued in the seats Arthur had led them into, brows knitted either in anger or confusion and clutching against each other.

The suspects sat on the sofa. A geeky looking wizard prodded about Kyon’s wand, which Kyon would have felt nervous for, but his mind was busy processing the possibility of being expelled, imprisoned, and most threateningly, having to face his mother’s fury. The weather had gotten murky, however nice the afternoon had been, with a sharp sting of chill getting in past the windowpanes. Kyon wondered if it was going to haul. He rubbed his temples and glanced at Haruhi. Nothing short a thunderstorm in that direction, either.

"Fuck if I can read this shit," the geeky inspector huffed. Bendy-twisty shapes of colored mist emerged from the wand periodically, when he scanned it with his own. His boss, a big, black guy in leather robes, who talked in a deep, husky voice, reminded him that there were children present. However criminally inclined, but still children.

"Take it to the ministry then. He’ll probably not need it for a little bit, anyway." He looked at Kyon, who tilted his head away in apparent pain.

Kyon tried to relax. He had messed up big time, but there was no helping that now. He forced his thoughts back to the present, where the racking of the clock, the occasional sounds of traffic were still in place. An ad was playing in television.

There was a faint flash with a puff and a zap in the middle of the living room. A young wizard appeared in. It took Kyon a moment to notice him, but when he did, he faced a confident smile.

The moment he appeared, he had several wands pointed at him, which he coolly noted, lifting up his hands. His eyes regarded briefly everyone in the room. “Good afternoon. I am Itsuki Koizumi,” he said before anyone had time to butt in, “Hogwarts student, in assignment of the school and the ministry of magic.”

True enough, he was wearing a Slytherin uniform.

“Got papers, boy?” the head inspector asked.

Those were delivered through the air over the sofa.

“Seems legit, Mr. Koizumi,” the inspector said, “senior inspector Shacklebolt, at your service.”

“As I am at yours,” Itsuki said, in a manner suggesting he was perhaps expecting more subordination than was about to express himself. A man true to the colors of his House, Kyon thought slightly annoyed. Koizumi turned his attention in the direction of Mr. and Ms. Suzumiya Potter, shaking their hands. “Pardon the intrusion. I would have announced my arrival, but the situation was unexpected as it was.”

He also shook the hands of the culprits. His way of moving and speaking was reserved, polite, his eyes sharp and observant over his endless smile.

“Okay, okay,” Mr. Potter said. “Now, let me ask something. My house is supposedly full of officials now. If I were to call the police, let me guess: I wouldn't find your names in any of their registries?”

“I explained this, Mr. Potter,” Arthur answered, undisturbed. “Wizard police and ministry workers are only known to the Ministry of Magic.”

“Why are they all here?”

“Me and my son will take your daughter shopping and safely to the train to Hogwarts. The inspectors, because underage wand magic is a serious issue and a punishable crime, which we will still have to work our way around. And Mr. Koizumi, hm...”

Koizumi gave a brief bow.

“My obligation is simple: I am to ensure that your daughter will be allowed to enter the school and will do so as smoothly and quickly as possible.”

“Which is not happening,” Yuriko blurted.

Several faces turned towards her, including Haruhi's.

“She is not going to the trickster school. She's not buying any... any of those”, she pointed at Kyon's wand laying on the coffee table, as if it was a dangerous insect, “and generally not leaving home.”

“Mom!” Haruhi exclaimed.

The atmosphere was, again, sizzling with electricity.

“She could have gotten herself killed.”

“Mom, I'm not going to...”

Yuriko ignored her daughter. “Killed. Crushed like... like a cricket under Grandmother's lamp. Do you not understand?”

There seemed to be a staring contest between her and Haruhi.

“If she is going to be sent somewhere, it is her own room,” Haruhi's dad seconded.

As the argument heated, Kyon turned towards the window again.

The inky mist took shapes in his eyes, like sandstorm. Frost flowers appeared into the window just when Kyon felt an unfamiliar coldness shroud his heart. It didn't occur to him that it was mid-July. James's and Lily's voices died off into the distance, replaced with shrieks in Kyon's ears and the throbbing of headache; it was hard to see around him, his eyes had gotten blurry. He shivered with cold, like he had forgotten his jacket in a winter night. Anxious panting and sharp screams emerged in the mist thickening rapidly around.

“Dementors.” Shacklebolt's voice rang in the mist, clearing his head a bit. “You guys, take care of them, me and Albert will stay with the civilians.” They left through the backdoor and to the yard.

Shacklebolt's wand was drawn again at the same time, and it gave soft white light swarming out and slashing through the mist, when he pronounced the spell. It formed a big cat-like creature, who ran around the room in elegant stride, eagerly eating the freezing mist away. Exactly like the dark shapes had taken away Kyon's life force, this luminous being had it return in his veins. It was like waking up from a nightmare – one where you try to move your limbs to run from the beast, but your body won't respond.

James and Yuriko stared ahead but their eyes weren't focused, but seemed clouded, passive. Kyon took the time to have pity on them. His dad dug blankets from his jinxed chest pocket.

“Haruhi,” he said, calmly, “Do you have chocolate in the house? Would you mind getting some for me?”

Haruhi hesitated.

“What about hot chocolate?”

“It would be magnificent. As rich as you can make it, please.”

Haruhi rose and prepared to leave to the kitchen. Then, without warning, she took Kyon by his sleeve and dragged him along. Kyon stumbled and instinctively took long strides along Haruhi to not fall on his knees. Before the living room vanished behind the doorframe in front of his eyes, Koizumi's angelic smile crazed his field of vision.

* * *

 

Haruhi needed Kyon to take a pot from the top shelf, but then she also needed him to get sugar and cocoa, milk and a kettle, turn on the stove and boil up the milk, while Kyon needed to tell her about dementors. Kyon knew a thing or two from books and his elders' experience, but had never encountered any before, so no, they weren't common for wizards... though muggles, like Haruhi's parents, couldn't see them? Probably? Anyway you weren't supposed to meet any, ever, unless you were some criminal or adventurer.

Haruhi leaned on the counter, seemingly deep in thoughts. “Are you concerned for your parents?” Kyon asked. She looked up to give him a glance and returned to her musing.

They got back to the living room, Kyon carrying the filled pot and Haruhi with a tray laid with cups. Haruhi's family looked better, which got her immediately from her blues. The first sip of chocolate made them calm and looking around as if they hadn't understood their reaction in the first place, and they were quickly explained about the effects of chocolate.

“In Hogwarts, defence against dark arts is taught,” Koizumi said, conversationally. “The charms such as the one presented by Officer Shacklebolt protect young wizards and witches. Can you indeed let a child, who is able to conjure magic in the way you saw a show of earlier today, grow up uneducated about her own powers? How much more tragic consequences is that going to have? Please, if you don't mind, let's get back to the staircase,” Koizumi rose from his seat and the parents, quite stupefied followed his lead to the hallway and the stairs, where the colorful pile of glass still covered the stairmat. The magic coverup team had left, removing other marks of spells including the paint animations, but by Koizumi's request they had left the lampshade as it was upon their arrival.

The slytherin took his wand and said some words. Potters stared astonished when the pieces of glass, commanded by his wand and his few simple words, slowly began to assemble back to the shape of a lamp they knew Koizumi had never before seen in one piece. He invited them to observe the lamp, now laying on the landing, and provided illumination from his wand. No shard was missing, there were no splinters, patina and dust particles were in place. Stylized dragonflies were floating around water lilies in the painstaking handicraft of the antique lampshade.

“In a few years, I have learned these handy tricks and I am not even as talented as your respectable daughter,” Koizumi told them. “I am leaving this in your consideration.”


	4. Diagon Alley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baby steps into another reality. 
> 
> Yuki shop-sits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Is someone reading? Ilu for reading. <3 Drop me a comment! If you don't have AO3 I'm emlisgremlins on tumblr.

Kyon had managed to forget his offence for a while. He had only had time for the dementors. It soon turned out that Koizumi hadn't been so easy to misguide; he had already gotten their pardons through. The Potters were calmed down. They were to be sent an owl in a few days and they could just send their response in return.

That was exactly what happened, and Kyon's family got their owl back carrying a brief note, asking them to attend to Haruhi on way to the school and to 'get her everything she should need'. There was a significant cheque attached. Kyon suspected that Haruhi's opinion had weighted heavily in the matter. And although that blasted Slytherin boy had them half convinced in just minutes, to agree to owls and all? They still were obviously open-minded. Kyon could have wished everyone a family like that.

* * *

 

Diagon Alley was rarely asleep, but it was morning now, and it was getting ready for the day. Shop-owners came appariting, walking through fireplaces, some sweeping their customer service gowns along the ancient streets on way to actually walk to work. All along the shopping district, they swayed their wands to open shutters and organize displays.

After them, early customers took over, and the street was buzzing with life in a nice sunny morning of July. A light morning breeze refreshed the pedestrians with the coolness of the retreating night. It proved to be a good day for the finances.

In the best supplied bookstore of the area, a young witch in round eyeglasses looked up from the book she had been lost in. Her peculiar colored eyes looked into distance, focus past the gap between shelves and the sunlit alley, way further into the universe.

The gaze remained in the unmapped galaxies for just seconds. Then she started reading again, soon turning a new page.

The cash owner was a chubby lady, who had a sleeping baby in a sling carrier. When the kid demanded attention, she hushed it and called: “Yuki, can you please watch the register again...?”

The reading girl, Yuki, looked up and said, “Yes,” walked to the counter and let the shopkeeper walk to the backroom to tend for the baby.

* * *

 

“Thanks for seeing all that trouble for me, Arthur,” Haruhi said. She was probably honest, but the overly friendly tone grinded Kyon's ears. Dad was surprised, but smiled and assured no trouble had been seen. Yeah? Glad to have souls sucked out all for you, Haruhi. Glad to be sent to Azkaban. Dad must be one of those guys who needed the ladies to lead them. Judging from his mom, though, Kyon was sure about it.

Kyon felt a surge of excitement when his dad took his wand to tap it on the brick wall. “Welcome to Diagon Alley!” Arthur said. The wall reassembled into an alley; Haruhi watched over the process as if trying to see the trick behind it.

Then she walked in. This was Arthur's dream realized. A fresh young witch was walking her first steps in the world within the world, the London inside London.

Haruhi clutched at her invitation letter, walking slow steps, looking around. She bit her lower lip in thought. The street looked back at her like a mediaeval painting, but one buzzing with life. A group of people in their twenties, neatly dressed in floor-length capes and pointy hats walked leisurely in the street. A dwarf in merchant clothes passed by, and more humans more fitting into walking on London streets were mixed into the crowd.

Haruhi took a wide stance and pointed ahead, now grinning widely. “Alright! Let's begin the mission!”

* * *

 

The tailor's place was split into sections with wide curtains, but Kyon could hear Haruhi chatting up with her fitting assistant like they were age-long friends. They were both being fitted for their school robes. “Which house do you wish to be sorted in, Ms. Potter?” Haruhi was asked. Kyon realized he hadn't, as had no one else, briefed their guest in the matter. “I am not sure of the differences yet,” Haruhi said. “But I want to know everything about that. And everything about the magical world!” “That does sound like an attitude fit for Ravenclaw, my girl,” the tailor chippered.

“And you are done, dear,” Kyon's assistant said, shaking him into present from growing an another pair of ears. “Are you guys coming by later? It doesn't take too long to finish these, you can also wait in the lobby.”

“It's fine. Dad said we should meet outside for tea.”

* * *

 

They had a tea break in a café next door. White tea had illusions of little carps swimming around in it, and the scones came with a plate of clotted cream decorated with a little lighted house and powdered sugar falling delicately on it like snow.

Arthur went over the common characteristics of each house, when Haruhi asked about it. “I'm going to Hufflepuff,” Kyon put in. Kyon didn't enjoy surprises, and sharing such traits with his friends gave him a good chance to get sorted there with them.

“That's because you are a weenie,” Haruhi said.

“Not because I'm a weenie, but because it's the best house!”

“Ahem, what's next in our list?” Arthur interrupted to prevent an argument. “You'll need a wand, Haruhi, but we should leave it for last – it's an important moment for you and can take some time. So... The school books, isn't it? On to Flourish&Blotts!”

Arthur has a promissory note from the Ministry of Magic Department of the Relations with Non-Wizarding Citizens, worth the cheque given by Haruhi’s parents. Haruhi had demanded a map of the area, and now she pinpointed the bookstore on it. She led the way with the victorious grin Kyon was now so used to. The map showed her progress with tiny footprints, trailing off after a few.

In the bookstore they didn't find a sales assistant. Only a girl in black robes and spectacles, a bubblegum colored hair and eyes to match, was reading a leather-bound tome behind the counter. She looked about as old as Haruhi and Kyon. The store was piling with books, books on the counter, books on the steps upstairs, books covering the shelves from floor to roof – brick-thick books, fingernail-sized books, ancient books, silk-bound gold-embroided books, books reciting proverbs in humming tones, books flying across the air to rest on tiny trapezes hung from the roof.

“Hello, there, is the shopkeeper present?” Albus asked.

The girl looked up. “She is busy. Can I help you?”

“Busy, you say?”

“Yes. Nurturing a human baby can be very time consuming.”

“Ah, Alfrida had her baby! And they are doing well, I assume? Excellent, excellent... We are after these books right here.” He provided the list, which Yuki glanced through.

“This is the booklist for a Hogwarts first-year. We sell this set on discount rounded down to a numerologically calculated price. It doesn't do anything but sounds convincing. Additional non-necessary items are included to catch your interest and for the purpose of getting rid of them in the stock. But buying this thing will save you from the trouble of catching yourselves a biting book.”

She took a heavy-looking crest from below the counter. Arthur hurried to help him to drag it by the cash register.

“So what are those additional items?” Haruhi wanted to know.

“Standard things,” Yuki explained, with her disinterest voice and disturbing gaze; she didn't seem to blink a lot. “Spinned sugar quills. Ink-storing quills. Cinnamon-fragranced letter scrolls. Notebooks with blinking puppies on the cover. Said notebooks but with glitches in the spell...”

“Perfect,” Haruhi said.

“I'd advice you against opening it without consulting your teacher on how to keep a book from eating others. Have a nice day.” When the crest dropped into Haruhi's new brass kettle with a thunk, the young cashier had returned to reading.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alfrida = Wise Councelor. Now this is a bookworm name.


	5. The Burrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sleepovers are magic.
> 
> Magic transportation is also magic.

The trip to the pet shop was a disappointment. Haruhi looked at peacocks, a phoenix, and finally settled for bunnies, but was told of the unfortunate restrictions to keeping a pet at Hogwarts.

“I'll just play with Kyon's pet.”

“When did I agree to that?!”

“You are going to feel perfectly at home but you'll want me to suffer from alienation? You are cold, Kyon.”

“Good grief.”

* * *

The clock was pushing five in the afternoon, when they came to a little, humble looking storefront. It was Ollivander's, wands since the times of the empire of ancient Greece, words written over the door wryly informed in chipping gold paint. “At least the place looks well stocked,” Kyon thought bitterly. His family had saved in everything they could, so his wand was second hand and probably not made by this famous craftsman.

This store was bigger on the inside than the outside, but it was still packed with little fancy boxes as tightly as the bookstore had been with books. Although for most of the time, wands probably were better behaving than many books available in Diagon Alley. The wands were so numerous, there was barely room for four people to stay at distance polite for Englishmen.

Ollivander was a dry old man, who peered at them over his glasses. “Who's in need of a wand? Those two?” he asked. “Just the lady, Miss Potter Suzumiya,” Arthur told him. “Ah. It did look to me like the boy perhaps already had a match, but there's something certainly extraordinary in this remaining client of ours,” said Olllivander. “Here, here, Miss Potter, try this one.”

Ever since she had entered the boutique, a measuring tape had been circling Haruhi, who eyed it suspiciously. It spread out below her nose, around her head, across her brow, took several figures from her arms. Kyon watched it idly, but neither of the adults seemed to pay mind to it at all.

Ollivanders took down a box that was poking out from the neat pile on a shelf a bit. Its cover was ajar. Haruhi took it and gave it a little jounce after Ollivander's instruction. The shop filled with a warm airy feeling and a fragrance; when Kyon would next meet it he would recognize it as cherry blossoms.

Was... it supposed to be this easy?

Wands were not sentient, Ollivander explained. They couldn't speak or move by themselves, but each and every one of them had a nature and a hint of a will. Haruhi's wand was an uncommon combination of materials, spell, magical item and wood; it was possible for it to recognize a match from just coming close, which it had also done, so there was really no point in trying others so that would be seven galleons, please, and thank you.

Haruhi made little movements with her new wand, maybe looking for an another reaction, but there was none. She carefully put the wand in her kettle.

“Well, I do think we have a promise here, my Kyon,” Arthur said, making Kyon want to blurtout he was neither a kid any more nor Kyon. He was uncharacteristically annoyed.

“If only one wand is good for one person, how come Haruhi was able to use mine?” he asked.

Ollivander turned to him like he was no longer just a part of the décor.

“It may be the nature of your wand, my friend. If I may see the wand for a minute, I could probably – ”

Kyon wished he hadn't talked.

“Confiscated,” he mumbled.

“It was sent ahead to Hogwarts with his Slytherin tutor,” Arthur added.

This was news to Kyon, and his annoyance was replaced with intent of murder.

“I see. Then I can only speculate that your wand is accepting in its allegiance. We must remember that most wands can be used by almost any wizard, especially if overcome from the previous owner. It can still be the best possible match for you, young man, hard to tell.”

“This would be about it, so we'll be heading home now, Haruhi!”

* * *

While they took a walk to their next means of transportation, Arthur was satisfying Haruhi's thirst for knowledge. Kyon could only be happy that this time Haruhi's family wasn't there to hear all the details.

“Now the usual side effects of using portkeys are: feeling weak or dizzy, slight nausea, headache, feeling out of place. Uncommon side effects include false beliefs, auditory hallucinations, confused or unclear thinking, inactivity, and reduced social engagement and emotional expression. If you should experience the latter in an uncomfortable amount, we'll sign you in St. Mungos for treatment.”

There was a pair of misshapen pink bunny ears behind a dumpster, attached to a broken headband. “This, my friend, is a port key! The ministry had it set up before. All we have to do is to make sure we grab it simultaneously. By far the most comfortable way of traveling! It'll take us to The Burrow – as we have named our home, Molly and me. Alright, it's one, two, three...!”

They grabbed the headband, all at once, according to the instructions. The world looked like it twisted around them, then it untwisted, in the middle there was a little, unsettling moment of grey and a feeling of a nudge in the guts. Then it was over; they were standing in front of a curious little house.

“And welcome!” Dad said.

Corn fields and a little tattered garden spread around; there was a shed in front of the house, and a hedge marked the yard. How the house kept standing, would have been a question, if this wasn't a magician family. It was as if someone had played jenga with construction barracks, made of a variation of materials from different decades.

Kyon thought about Potter's orderly residence. He realized his home looked ridiculous.

The front door flew open, and Kyon's mother appeared on the porch. “Hi everyone! All sorted out then? Please come inside. The dinner is just about ready. You are Haruhi, aren't you dear?”

“Yes, and I assume you are Molly,” Haruhi said, closing the distance briskly to shake hands. “I have looked forward to seeing you! Arthur tells me you are a reporter and write for the biggest wizarding Britain's papers. I'll have so much to talk to you of!”

Haruhi got amazingly well along with adults and won their trust within first seconds from introduction. Molly was no different, and the two were an interesting pair.

“Unfortunately I'm just a freelancer, so I don't get to help in the income as much I'd like to, but I really like it. This is Adelpha, Kyon's little sister, and that's about our family.” Sister peeked from behind Mom and shared wide grins with Haruhi. “Hi Haruhi,” Adelpha said, “I'll share my room with you. But don't worry, it's very big!”

When others weren't looking, Adelpha gave Kyon her customary greeting: pulled down her lower lid and stuck out her tongue. Kyon gave her a flip off with his eyes only.

Kyon didn't hate his sister. It was just... he hated her.

* * *

The dinner wasn't unlike British muggle meals: ribs, potatoes and green beans with cranberry juice and home made bread. The way it was served just involved spells, flying cutlery, tap bringing water to table all the way from the sink, and the like.

Haruhi was in her element. She noticed every detail of this new household and readily commented it, which kept the discussion lively. Kyon's dad could be quite the rambler, but this time the centre of the attention was between Haruhi and Molly.

"I think Kyon mentioned he has a pet?"

Kyon had not mentioned that, Haruhi had deduced it from something he had said.

"Yes, just an owl I happened to get through a contact in the mailing section of the Daily Prophet."

"If you have to know," Kyon said taking more bread, "she is a hawk owl, she's outside, and her name is Strawberry."

Kyon went to his room after dinner. He had gotten a new issue of _The Quidditch Club_ , and he browsed it and as usual turned to the second last page. It was his favorite page in every issue. It was a big, colored, filtered photograph, this time featuring a witch named Liza who was sitting on her broom in an unconventional position. She was fit, this Liza – and to his shameless pleasure Kyon noted she was wearing a ponytail. Her hair was chestnut but her rack was something else than –

Somebody knocked. Kyon dropped the publication behind his radiator.

Obviously, it was Haruhi.

“Hi Kyon, what are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

“Really? We are coming in, then.”

“We?”

Adelpha peeked from behind Haruhi's back.

* * *

Hanging out in Kyon's room could have been worse. Haruhi opened the window complaining stuffy air. Kyon was happy he liked to keep his room neat. “My room is probably tiny compared to yours. And I don't have much furniture,” he said.

Haruhi crossed her arms, brow furrowing.

“You could have a more positive attitude towards your home, Kyon. It's different from the suburban dream my parents keep up. But the feeling of home is apparent. And did you know your mom knits a scarf while she writes articles?”

Kyon had to admit truth in her words. Even if their furniture was gathered from countless sources it was a coherent mismatch. There was wear and tear here and there, but the place was kept organized, and somehow the cramped spaces and creaking floorboards made it feel comfortable, or perhaps personal, almost like a friend or a member of family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (“Oh Kyon's sister finally got a name? What's she called???” “Adelpha, Greek for Beloved Little Sister.” “...”)


	6. Hogwarts Express

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "A- A- Anything from the trolley?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have been wondering, kids starts Hogwarts slightly older in this universe...

“Haaaaruhiiiii!”

Yuriko rushed through the hall and crushed Haruhi in a hug.

“You look so happy, we are so excited! Your new robes look so nice on you, I never realized black would be your color...”

“Our little girl is all grown up now,” James said patting Haruhi's hair while he waited for his turn. “How did we agree to leaving you?” Maybe because she screamed you two deaf, Kyon thought, but he was melting a little inside, because of how small and innocent and downright gleaming Haruhi looked now. The two families met up at the spacey, busy King's Cross forty minutes prior to the 11AM departure.

"Nice to see you, Mr. Potter, and you too, Kyon," Yuriko said when she freed Haruhi from her squeeze and turned to the family of the others. "You are Ms. Molly Weasley, aren't you? The one that sent us the owl? We should get one of those owls ourselves; they seem very useful, and we are too used to telephones..."

"Haruhi may use the Hogwarts owls for the time being," Molly told, while shaking Yuriko's hand. "So pleased to meet you. Meet my daughter, Adelpha. She's going to Hogwarts too, only not yet. Should we begin to head to the platform?"

"Let me carry your case, Haruhi," James said. "Oh you bought a pot like this, did you?"

"Wait until you see what is in the pot, Dad!"

They arrived between the ninth and tenth platform entries. Potters stared at the wall in denial, but when others disappeared through it without any hassle, they took their daughter between them, held her arms, and stepped through with their eyes tightly shut.

“Oh my goodness. It's like an another world.”

The overcast skies of the fist of September lighted the platform nine and three fourths. It was still quiet, but the train had arrived, and the conductor sipped tea and lazily greeted them from the window. Although it was recommended to get to the place gradually, they were still early; there weren't many people yet, but like usual, schoolkids had as many family members seeing them off as could manage. Sometimes new families popped through the wall facing the station building, going about their chatting on wizard music, sports and school. It was cool to watch to a previous outsider.

Kyon saw Taniguchi come in and soon after him, Kunikida. “I'll be back in a moment,” he said without having no intention to. At least the Potter Suzumiya family was busy inspecting the contents of the kettle and Haruhi's trunk. “Adelpha, you are staying away from Strawberry.” “What's the point if you aren't with her anyway? … Sure, sure,” sister said. She was sitting on top of Kyon's belongings, and the hawk cage was beside him. Strawberry seemed to wake up when her name was called, and she looked after him, but closed her eyes soon.

“Hello guys,” Kyon called. “Kyon!” they called back. “Who is that babe?” Kunikida asked. He had the dignity to lower his voice. Kyon wasn't fond of Taniguchi's sucky Casanova act, but never objected it in any way. Kunikida was quieter, but a good dude, and Kyon had missed seeing some boys too.

“Haruhi Suzumiya Potter. Mostly she's called Haruhi Potter. Ministry had my dad take her here, she's Muggle Born, a Hogwarts first year like us.”

Low whistle. “That's Potter. I have heard of her. Kinda cute, huh? Her name was in the paper, very small, something weird happened in her house during the summer...”

“Really?” Kyon didn't comment. These two were expert at wizard rumors.

“And muggle-born, really? I hope she finds someone to hang out with...”

“Hey, Asakuras,” Kunikida whispered.

Ryoko came throug the entrance looking stunning in her robes, as was expectable. She went to meet some girls standing further, and Kyon and the boys shifted closer. Popular as ever, and for a good reason. Her blood was Britain's bluest. Not that it would be such a big deal these days, but _anyway_.

After they had gotten to say hi, it was already time to climb in the train. Before that, though, Kyon obediently went back to his family, embraced them (Adelpha resistantly like he would), said bye to Potters, and grabbed his stuff.

The conductor blew a whistle, steam emerged from the engine. Hogwarts Express tooted its goodbyes, crowd cheered and waved. They began moving northwards.

“Oh man, it's finally starting for real.” Kyon sat down with some other first years, together with Taniguchi and Kunikida and as close to Ryoko as they could manage. This was a rather full car. In the furthest end of it however, next to a vacant seat, sat Haruhi leaning on the windowsill and watching the landscapes they crossed.

“Anyone know who that is?” Ryoko whispered.

“Kyon's friend,” his friends whispered back all at once.

“What – no she's not! I just know her because my father...”

“Kyon,” Ryoko said, now out loud, “Take responsibility. Would you leave me hanging if I was sitting alone? Hm?”

“But – ”

Taniguchi and Kunikida nudged him. “Go already!”

Why. Good grief. Why.

* * *

"Haruhi, this seat... It's free, right?"

* * *

“A- A- Anything from the trolley?” a shy, girly voice asked from the door. Kids turned to look. Kyon had told Haruhi she needed stuff from the trolley if she wanted a full witch kid experience. It was a cart from which an old lady sold everyone's favorite candies – every flavor beans, chocolate frogs, liquorice wands, toothflossing stringmints – but this wasn't an old lady's voice. Kyon's jaw dropped, and while he was unaware of the fact, most others in the car looked rather silly too.

It had to be a veela, but for a veela she was red-haired. She had a long Irish-sort of red mane tied up with ponpon hairbands and was that a witch's cape? Maybe it was, but it was purple and came with a white apron and headpiece that made her look like an old-fashioned maid. It was also extremely flattering. Perhaps she was a model, but for a model, she was very young; maybe she was a student, but for a student she had amazing legs and –

Haruhi nudged Kyon. “You are staring.” “Right,” he said and closed his mouth. “Good afternoon, everyone,” the young goddess said just now, “I am very, very sorry, I am inexperienced, but my grand-aunt was sick, and needed someone to take care of the trolley, and I was  the only one there... Oh! My name is Mikuru, nice to meet you. I apologize! Grand-aunt must have underestimated how much candy I need. Most of it is gone. I told them to not buy it all. Please find candy to your tastes! Ah... I think that's all...” She took a deep breath after the speech and began to push the candy trolley along the aisle.

Tsurya – one of Kyon's old aquaintances from an another renowned wizarding family – laughed loudly, breaking the spell. “Wow, all the boys sure went crazy the moment you stepped in. They even stopped trying to please Ryoko for one damn second. Are you a veela?”

The girl, Mikuru, blushed and looked like she wanted to hide behind the trolley. “I am... partly Veela.”

“Well it's apparent the candy won't last...”

Haruhi's interest was picked.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... but this still PROBABLY counts as child labor. It's a line drawn in the water.


	7. Across the water, into new land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By Gryffindor, the bravest were  
> Prized far beyond the rest;  
> For Ravenclaw, the cleverest  
> Would always be the best;  
> For Hufflepuff, hardworkers were  
> Most worthy of admission;  
> And power-hungry Slytherin  
> Loved those of great ambition.  
> Sorting Hat's song (excerpt, year 1994) according to Harry Potter Wiki

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Destiny.

At dusk, they arrived. Busy and noisy like the schoolful of children they were, they collected along with their trunks, kettles and cages on a platform surrounded by Northern English wilderness. “First-years, this way!” squawked the assigned teacher. “First-years! Gather around me please!” He counted the heads around him – or more rather, pairs of feet, because he was around half their height – saw to that their belongings were gathered and, with an “all-right-ladies-and-gentlemen,” lead them down to the lake.

Kyon looked over the water; strands of evening mist were hovering over it in a complicated dance. Old folks had believed they were fairies. According to the Hogwarts student base's similarly sometimes unreliable knowledge, the inhabitants of this lake were mostly of a more unsettling nature. Not that you could tell, tonight. Evening birds chippered in the trees. Sun was setting as a blazing orb beneath the hills and the forest. In such a light, the children looked like paintings, statues. Across the dark blue enamel, up on a hill the magical school greeted the new students with all its lights lit, shaping up its silhouette.

Kyon couldn't help the festive feeling coming from within, like when Quiddich world champions started, but grander, more personal. He looked around and saw Taniguchi and Kunikida getting on a boat and moved to get on with them.

In the way he happened to look how Haruhi was doing.

Her ribbons caught the last rays of the setting sun. Her eyes were fixed on the castle, brow dipped in deep thought. Oh, yeah; the girl was a muggle-born after all, wasn't she? Pity. If Kyon's limited education on the muggle England was true, she'd not see many things she was used to in the following months.

He didn't want to disturb, so he just clumsily halted by her side for a while.

“Kyon.”

He startled. “What's up?”

“It's perfect.”

“What?”

Kyon thought she was going to start crying, but instead, up a see-saw, her face lit up. “Magic is perfect. This world is perfect!”

Kyon's gut wrenched for no reason. He thought for a moment his knees were going to give up. Up above he saw the first stars of an incomprehensible number lighting up, appearing to man as a three-dimensional pattern, like a pathetic scratch on the immense boundaries of a universe.

“I'm not sure why but you are creeping me out.” It was probably too much coffee.

“Nah. Come, let's catch ourselves a boat."

* * *

They were standing in line. Standing... and standing.

Haruhi's head could as well contain everything.

"Gryffindor!"

Welcomed by general mirth from the red and gold themed audience, Haruhi grinned wildly and left the sorting seat behind.

Kyon recieved the hat in turn from the vice principal - Ms. McGonagall, a lady whose looks attracted no nonsense, her reputation even less so - and slipped it on. "Hmm... hmm," the hat said. "Interesting material, if not a lot of it. Goes where the fence is low. Loyal to a fault. Gryffindor!" The hat proclaimed the last part out loud. Kyon heard clapping and cheering, but it took a moment to register. He... wasn't a Hufflepuff?

"Wanting to follow your friends? Hush. After your dreams instead, young man."

"Yeah, thanks." Kyon didn't have a chance, other than to take off the hat and meet his new house. He shot an apologetic look at his friends, who waved awkwardly from the Hufflepuff crew.

For an even more bitter disappointment, Mikuru stood there too, protected by Tsurya and her friends. Ryoko was a Slytherin, but what else would Ryoko be.

* * *

"You _convinced_ the hat?"

Haruhi shrugged. She was holding sushi with her chopsticks. The festival dinner's menu sure had some exotic items.

"It took a while."

"It listens to what people say?"

"Pretty obvious really, isn't it? It said: 'I have yet to force my will on a schoolgirl.'"

Kyon had no arguments. To know that he could have changed his destiny...

"Why Gryffindor then?"

"I figured it out during the hat's song. When the others are Hardworking, Clever and Ambitious? I'll be in the team of the heroes!"

Good grief.


End file.
